Musical Theatre Mondays

In an article by The Washington Post titled "In some musicals of yore, female characters deserve better," journalist Peter Marks discusses just that: older musicals and their treatment of women characters. These shows, in the wake of things like the #metoo and Time's Up movements, can leave those of us watching it now feeling uncomfortable or angry. How can this art form, that is often used as a way of discussing hard to talk about issues, betray us by bringing some harmful ideas and ugly words right to the mouths of these beloved characters? Is there a difference when shows use misogyny as a character flaw to be corrected? This week, as I was thinking about this article and what I wanted to say about it,  Seven Brides for Seven Brothers  kept coming to mind. I kept feeling like this show was somehow exempt from being labeled misogynistic because Adam and his brothers change their ways by the end of the show! They learn to respect their brides and become the gentl...

Since we focused on one of the most influential choreographers last week - it's only appropriate that we talk about one my favorite and one of the most famous dance scenes from a movie musical:  the barn dance from Seven Brides for Seven Brothers! In my experience, this is something that just about everyone has seen and even if musicals "aren't their thing" can admit that it's pretty freaking cool. I'll get to a post about the show as a whole later as it is one of my favorite musicals and has some really fun songs, but where I think this show really shines is in the dancing. Four of the 6 brothers and all of the brides are professional dancers so unlike other movie musicals where a "dream version" of the lead characters is subbed in for big dance scenes - it's the same people! (Although most of their singing voices were dubbed in.) Here are my two favorite things about this dance: These dancers make the dancing look so easy! It appears e...